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Class 1 3 J 

Book 

C%iigM 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



PROSPERITY 



AND 



POLITICS 



HERMON W. CRAVEN 



PRICE 15 CENTS 



Prosperity and Politics 



BY / 

HERMON W. CRAVEN 

AUTHOR OF 

"Errors of Populism" 



SEATTLE 

DENNY— CORYELL COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
1900 

1 



l_ior*»ry of Con^pits 

J "'wo Copies Received 
OCT 8 1900 

Copyright «ntry 

S£C0N0 COPY. 
ONDtK DIVISION, 

NOV 23 190C 



. £1 



Copyright, 1900 
BY 

Hermon W. Craven 



CHAPTEK I. 



It was a bright morning in the summer of 1900 in 
the little village of Irving, and quite a number of men 
were gathered about the blacksmith shop of David 
Evans. Some had business at the shop, and others 
were there simply because it was the place of greatest 
interest in the village that morning. The most of them 
were farmers. It had rained the night before, so that 
it was too wet to work in the fields ; and they had come 
in to have horses shod, and tools repaired, and on vari- 
ous other errands. A score of men and boys from the 
village gradually added themselves to the group. 

"What a great big, strapping fellow you're getting 
to be/ 7 said an old f armer to a young man who had just 
mounted his newly-shod horse. "I haven't seen much 
of you since you went away to school. It does beat all 
how a boy grows up after he once gets started. Why, 
it doesn't seem like any time at all since you were a 
mere lad; now you are as tall as your father. You'll 
be wanting to vote next thing." 

"You're right I'll be wanting to vote next thing. 
If I live till the first of next November I'll be twenty- 
one; and that will just let me get my vote in for the 
next President of the United States," said the young 
man as he started off. 

"What ticket are you going to vote?" some one 
called out. 



4 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



" There's only one ticket to vote. I'll vote for 
McKinley and Roosevelt/' replied the young man with 
great emphasis, as he reined in his horse. "I'd almost 
feel as if I were unfit to have the right to vote if I 
didn't vote that ticket." 

"Oh, you're prejudiced," said his interrogator. 

"I don't think so. The Republican party is the 
only one that has accomplished anything for the coun- 
try during the past half century. I don't know of a 
single, solitary thing of benefit to the country that the 
Democrats have done in all that time, except, possibly, 
to watch and criticise and bring to public notice every 
mistake and fault of the Republican party, and thus 
make the Republicans more careful to keep the party 
up to the highest standard of political wisdom and 
purity. This is the only ground that I know of upon 
which the existence of the Democratic party can be 
justified at all. ~No Democracy for me ! I don't know 
wjiy any young man should go blundering into the 
Democratic camp when he can join the Republican 
forces, that have never fought on the wrong side of" 
any great question, and whose triumphs are the glory 
of their country." And with that the young man rode 
away. 

"By thunder ! he's got it pretty bad," said Billson, 
an industrious looking farmer, to three or four men- 
gathered with him around a new mowing machine. 
"But I used to be about as red-hot a Republican as he 
is when I was a young fellow. I grew up a Republican. 
I served through the war as a Republican. I voted for 
Lincoln in 1864, and for Grant in 1868 and 1872- 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



5 



But the party isn't what it used to be. It isn't the 
party of the toilers any longer, and I haven't confidence 
in its leaders — that's the reason I joined the Populists." 

Here a shrivelled up old man, sitting near by on 
the beam of a breaking plow whittling a piece of 
leather, spoke up. "So far so good, Billson. It was 
the proper move for you to get out of the Republican 
party ; but you should come clear over to the Demo- 
cratic party without stopping at the half-way house. 
There are only two parties in this country, the Repub- 
licans and the Democrats — that's just as sure as my 
name's Henderson." Then, as the crowd gathered 
around him, as it so naturally does around a man who 
is airing his political views, the old man continued: 
e 1 never had to have my eyes opened to the corruption 
of the Republican party and the rottenness of its leaders. 
I was on to it all along. I didn't go to the war as you 
did, Billson, and so had a better chance to know the 
real drift of things. I was a member of the National 
Democratic Convention that met in August, 1864, at 
Chicago and patriotically declared the war a failure, 
and denounced Lincoln and the entire Republican ad- 
ministration for the unconstitutional manner in which 
they were conducting the war. And we did all we 
could in the campaign of 1864 to bring out a big army 
vote for McClellan; but all we got for him was 33,748 
votes out of 150,635 soldiers voting. There were lots 
of soldiers who were deluded then just as you were, 
Billson; and the queer thing about it is that the most 
of them have stayed that way ever since. I tell you, 
everything of consequence that the Republican party 



6 



PKOSPERITY AND POLITICS 



has ever done has been unconstitutional — awfully, ter- 
ribly unconstitutional " 

"Come and take a constitutional, Henderson," called 
out some one, no one knew just who. 

With a bound the old man leaped to his feet, looked 
with intense eagerness in the direction from which the 
words had come, and exclaimed: "Who said 'whis- 
key' ?" There was no response except a general smile 
in front of him, and a suppressed titter behind him; 
and he took his seat with a look of painful disappoint- 
ment on his face, and relapsed into silence. 

"I'm a Democrat, but I'd a thousand times rather 
be a Republican than such a Democrat as old Hender- 
son is," said Curtis, the carpenter of the village, to 
Billson quietly. 

"I'll stay in the half-way house a long time before 
I get under the same roof with him," replied Billson. 

While Henderson was speaking a dilapidated look- 
ing man in a dilapidated looking rig drove up. The 
most of his head was hair and beard. He was called 
"Snodgrass the Pop," because his name was Snodgrass, 
and because his almost sole theme of discourse was 
Populism. 

Years before he had taken up a quarter section of 
fine government land, proved up on it, and received his 
patent from the government. Then a transcontinental 
railroad, subsidized by the government, was built 
through that country and crossed one corner of the 
Snodgrass farm, which made Snodgrass the possessor 
of a farm worth, with the improvements, $10,000 — 
enough to amply provide for himself and his family. 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



7 



But speculation was rife; and before the mind of 
Snodgrass came floating visions of vast wealth. In his 
opinion the best place for a town-site in all that region 
was on his farm and the quarter section adjoining. He 
mortgaged his farm to obtain sufficient money to pur- 
chase the adjoining tract, made satisfactory terms with 
the railroad company, platted a town-site, and boomed 
it as the great coming metropolis. A good many lots 
were sold at fabulous prices, mostly to eastern people 
who relied solely upon the glowing circulars descriptive 
of the "city," sent them by the agents of Snodgrass. 

But for some reason the town did not grow rapidly. 
Immigration and capital seemed to find other places 
more attractive. The boom waned. The mortgage 
became due and was foreclosed. Snodgrass lost every- 
thing, and moved to Irving, where he maintained a 
precarious existence by doing odd jobs around the vil- 
lage. 

When Henderson's discourse came to an abrupt 
close, Snodgrass called out in a squeaky voice, "You're 
off on some things, old man, but you're givin' it to 'em 
straight now. Talk about our grand government! It 
never does a tarnal thing for nobody except the pluto- 
crats. It makes me tired to hear 'em talk about the 
G. O. P. Didn't Lincoln f oiler out the behests of Wall 
Street and do everything he could to establish the 
National Bankin' System? Didn't he f oiler out the 
behests of Wall Street on March 3, 1865, and sign the 
bankers' bill to contract the currency — to exchange the 
people's money for bonds, bonds, bonds, — and then burn 
the money? When Grant, in 1869, signed the Credit 



8 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



Strengthenin' Act wasn't he guilty, as one of our noble 
Populist writers says, of 'one of the most damnable 
acts of political corruption, and the most villainous 
betrayal of public trust ever practiced upon an unsus- 
pecting and confidin' constituency' ? I say, wasn't he ?" 
and Snodgrass waved his arm wildly in the air. 

"Didn't you vote for Lincoln and Grant?" asked 
some one. 

"Yes, I did, I own up to it," replied Snodgrass; 
"but I did it in my ignorance. It's ignorance that's 
ailin' this country. If the people wasn't ignorant now, 
them Wall Street capitalists wouldn't be enslavin' 'em. 
But I could be excused fer not knowin' all about the 
money question or fer not bein' on to Wall Street in 
them days. There wasn't no books then like ' Seven 
Financial Conspiracies' or 'The Alarm — Comin' Revo- 
lution.' I hadn't heared Weaver. It was before the 
day of Mary Ellen Lease and James Hamilton Lewis. 
We are livin' in an age of spiritual light that gleams 
from the altar of liberty. Yes, in these days the foun- 
tain sources of information is open and runnin', and 
any man that's honest can know how to run the govern- 
ment. If he has a mind that takes to statesmanship, 
like mine, it's the easiest thing in the world for him." 

One of the men, who had listened to Henderson 
with evident disapproval, became very impatient while 
Snodgrass delivered his opinions. He did not enjoy 
hearing the Republican party spoken of in that way, 
and so, for the purpose- of hearing something in defense 
of his party, he said to Evans, who had been standing 
in the doorway of his shop, wiping the sweat from his 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



9 



face, and listening to the political talk, "What do you 
think of all this, David ?" 

"Well," said the stalwart blacksmith, "I'm per- 
fectly willing for every man to have the politics that 
suit him best, and to express his views freely. As you 
all know, I'm a Republican. I came to this country 
from Wales several years after the war, and therefore 
am not so well acquainted with the history of the politi- 
cal parties during the war period as I would be had I 
lived in this country at that time. But, from what I 
nave read and heard, I believe that the record of the 
Republican party during that period is one of glory, 
and that the record of the Democratic party is one of 
shame and disgrace. 

"But it is what I have myself seen since coming to 
America that makes me a Republican. I don't belong 
to the party because of what it has been, but because 
of what it is today; and if I thought it was for the 
I>est interests of the country for the Democrats to have 
control of the government I'd have no hesitation at all 
in becoming a Democrat. Parties are not an end, but 
only a means to an end — and that end, good govern- 
ment and the welfare of the people. I am not in the 
Republican party because of its glorious past, but be- 
cause of its glorious present." 

"What is it that you find about the Republican 
party now that's so attractive, I'd like to know ?" asked 
Curtis, the carpenter. 

"One of the main things is the fact that in these 
last few years it has been demonstrated, and is being 
demonstrated now, that the Republican party is the 



10 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



party of prosperity, and that the Democratic party is 
the party of adversity/' replied the blacksmith. 

" Just what do you mean by that ?" asked Curtis. 

"I mean this/ 7 said Evans. "When the Republican 
party turned this government over to the Democratic 
party in March, 1893, the country was highly pros- 
perous. Suddenly hard times came upon the country 
with terrific force, and continued for four long years,, 
until the Republicans took charge of the government 
in 1897, when good times again came to the land. This 
change from good times to bad, and from bad to good, 
was mainly due to the difference in the principles of 
the two parties." 

"I'd like to see you prove that," said Curtis. 

"So would I," said Billson. 

"He can't do it in a thousand years," said Hender- 
son and Snodgrass together. 

"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Evans. "You 
know that I'm no politician, and I never made a stump 
speech in my life. But if you will come here to the 
shop a week from next Saturday evening I'll give you 
some of the facts that prove what I just said. I'd do- 
it sooner, only I'm awful busy these days, and I will 
have to make a trip to the city to get some facts and 
figures that I'll want. I'll clean up the big lamp in 
the shop, and put in two or three planks for seats, and 
everybody can come that wants to." 

"We'll all come," shouted several voices. 

And with that the crowd dispersed, except those who 
had business at the shop, and Evans went on with his 
work. 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



11 



David Evans was known throughout the community 
to be well posted on political matters. During the cam- 
paign of 1896 he spent many of his evenings studying 
the silver question, and he had scores of public docu- 
ments and government publications relating to the sub- 
ject. It was in that campaign that he won considerable 
notoriety by a tilt that he had with the Democratic can- 
didate for Congress at a rally at the schoolhouse. The 
candidate, underestimating the intelligence of his rural 
audience, indulged in a number of statements that were 
glaringly erroneous. Among other things he said that 
during the time that the United States had free coinage, 
from 1792 to 1873, we maintained the parity of our 
gold and silver coins, and he challenged and defied any 
one in the audience to deny his statement. In loud 
tone and with violent gesture he exclaimed: "Was 
there a day from the inception of the American Re- 
public down to 1873 when a dollar in silver, whether in 
the United States, England or Erance, would not match 
a gold dollar in actual value ?" 

"Yes, sir," said Evans, rising from his seat, "there 
was not only a day, but there were many years at a 
time, when a dollar in silver would not match a gold 
dollar in actual value." 

Then he proceeded to show the falsity of the can- 
didate's statements. He read quotations from the re- 
port of the Monetary Commission of 1876, made by 
Senator J ones, of Nevada, himself a strong free coinage 
man, and from the report of the Director of the Mint 
of January 1, 1827, and from other authorities, show- 
ing beyond all contradiction that from 1821 to 1834 



12 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



gold coin was at a premium over silver coin of from 
2 to 7 per cent., and was driven completely out of cir- 
culation. He showed that, under free coinage, when- 
ever the bullion value of the silver dollar varied from 
the bullion value of the gold dollar — our free coinage 
laws being powerless to prevent the variation — a dollar 
in silver did not have the same value as a dollar in gold. 

His answer to the speaker's challenge was brief; 
but, by the time he got through, the candidate for Con- 
gress was one of the worst used up men that ever tried 
to impose on the supposed ignorance of his audience. 
All that the would-be Congressman could say in reply 
was to stammer, "Well, I never looked into this matter 
much, myself, but I've heard many Democrats make the 
same statement I made, and I supposed they knew what 
they were talking about." 

It was noticed that at the election the candidate for 
Congress ran badly behind his ticket in that precinct. 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



13 



CHAPTEE II. 

The Saturday evening appointed for the meeting 
came, and a large number of men from the village 
and vicinity gathered at David Evans' blacksmith shop. 
It is needless to add that there was a plentiful sprink- 
ling of boys. It was a thoroughly good-natured crowd, 
as is usually the case in this country when politics are 
to be discussed. Even " Simple Joe/' a well-known 
village character, was there to see what was going on • 
and to take in the proceedings as well as his feeble 
mind would permit. 

Evans began by saying : "Neighbors and friends, 
as many of you know, some days ago I gave as one 
reason for my being a Republican the fact that the 
Republican party is the party of prosperity, and the 
Democratic party the party of adversity. And I made 
the statement that during Harrison's administration, 
when the Republicans were in power, the country was 
prosperous; that the last year of Harrison's adminis- 
tration, 1892, was one of very great prosperity; that 
when the Democrats took charge of the government in 
1893 this very great prosperity- was suddenly changed 
to very great adversity, which came upon the country 
like a pestilence, and remained until the government 
was again turned over to the Republicans in 1897, 
when prosperity rapidly came again to the land; and 



14 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



that the change from good times to bad, and from bad 
to good, was chiefly due to the difference in the prin- 
ciples of the two parties. 

"This evening I am to give you some of the proofs 
of that statement." 

A man sitting on the front seat arose and said: 
"Do you claim that Republican supremacy insures good 
times, and that all we have to do to have good times in 
this country is to keep the Republicans in power?" 

"Certainly not," replied Evans. "I believe that 
Republican principles put into practice directly tend 
to produce good times, and that Democratic principles 
put into practice directly tend to produce hard times. 
But it is possible for hard times to be caused by other 
things besides bad political principles. They may even 
arise from conditions existing solely in other countries. 
Of course, hard times arising from such causes could 
come upon the country even if the Republican party 
were in power. With Republican principles in opera- 
tion, hard times may come in spite of them ; with Demo- 
cratic principles in operation, hard times will surely 
come because of them — that's what I claim. 

"In proving what I started out to prove," continued 
Evans, "I am going to make free use of what are un- 
questionably the best authorities on earth as to the busi- 
ness and industrial condition of this country now and 
for many years past. I refer to the great commercial 
agencies of Dun and Bradstreet. Each of them has 
agents stationed all over the country. It is the business 
of these agents to send in frequent reports to the home 
office as to the establishment of industries, the failure 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



15 



of business enterprises, the rate of wages, the prices of 
products, the bank clearings, and everything relating 
to the condition of business in their several localities. 
And each of these agencies publishes a weekly paper 
telling of all these things. The paper published by 
the Bradstreet Company is called 'Bradstreet's,' and 
'Dun's Review' is the name of the paper published by 
E. G. Dun & Co." 

"Can I ask a question ?" asked a man standing near 
the door. 

"Of course," said Evans. "This is just a friendly 
talk among neighbors. You know well enough that I 
don't pretend to know it all. Everybody is welcome 
to ask questions. If I can answer them, all right. If 
I can't, I'll tell you so." 

"What are the politics of those papers ?" asked the 
man. 

Evans replied: "You might just as well ask for 
the politics of the Scientific American or the Ladies' 
Home Journal. These papers have no politics; they 
are purely business publications. The only use I shall 
make of them is to prove the business and industrial 
condition of the country. Is there any one here who 
denies that they are the best authority in the world 
as to this particular matter?" 

Two boys were sitting side by side next to Simple 
J oe. One nudged the other and whispered : "Tell Joe 
to get up and say he denies it." The other boy replied : 
"It's no use trying. Joe wouldn't do it. He's got 
better sense." 

"There's one thing," continued Evans, "that shows 



16 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



the universal reliance placed upon the reports of Brad- 
street and Dun on this subject, and that is the fact 
that in all the large papers of the United States, irre- 
spective of politics, at least once each week there are 
printed long quotations from these papers relating to 
the condition of trade and business. 

"I looked over the files of Dun's Review when I 
was in the city the other day, and I'll read three extracts 
that I made regarding the business arid industrial con- 
dition of the country in Harrison's administration. In 
the early summer of 1892 it speaks as follows: 

'Business prospects are clearly better than a year ago, 
and nearly all accounts show an actual increase of business. 
Crop prospects are better, money is in greater demand, 
but is in ample supply everywhere, and industries are pro- 
ducing more than ever before. Manufactures in this country 
have never been in better condition on the whole than that 
which reports now indicate. All textile branches are produc- 
ing more material than ever, and the demand has rarely 
pressed so closely on the supply. Most woolen mills are run- 
ning night and day to meet orders, and cotton mills are crowd- 
ed, while stocks of goods in sight are phenomenally low.' 

"Of the twelve months ending June 30, 1892, it 

says : 

'A fiscal year never matched in the whole history of the 
country in volume of industrial production, in magnitude of 
domestic exchanges, or in foreign trade has just closed.' 

"Under date of December 31, 1892, it says: 
'The most prosperous year ever known in business closes 
today, with strongly favorable indications for the future. 
From nearly all points comes the report that the holiday trade 
has been the largest ever known; and while wholesale trade 
is not usually active at this season of stock-taking, it is now 
remarkably large. . . . The year closes with all woolen, 
cotton and silk machinery fully employed, and unsold stocks 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



17 



of goods much lighter than usual, while the demand for the 
coming season already exceeds the capacity of many mills. 

. The year 1892 was remarkable for fewer failures 
than have occurred in any other year since 1886/ 

Here some one asked: "Can any one see those 
papers that wants to ?" 

"Yes," replied the blacksmith. "And I recommend 
that when you go to town yon go to the agent of R. G. 
Dun & Co. and ask him to let you look over the files 
of the Review, and you'll find that these quotations 
are but samples of what was said by the paper at that 
time. If men would only investigate for themselves 
about these matters, and go to sources of information 
that are acknowledged by everybody to be reliable, in- 
stead of taking the say-so of partisan papers, they would 
be more sure to arrive at correct conclusions. 

"These quotations of themselves are sufficient to 
prove the first part of the statement that I made at the 
beginning, because they are a general summing up of 
the situation by an unquestioned authority ; but I want 
to apply a special test. I want to show the big amount 
of business done during Harrison's administration, and 
especially during 1892, by the enormous bank clearings 
at that time." 

Here Snodgrass jumped to his feet and in an ex- 
cited voice exclaimed : 

"David Evans, I've knowed you fer years, an' I've 
alius sized you up fer an honest man, with yer heart 
in the right place, although bein' a Republican. But 
now you go to provin' that the people was doin' lots 
of business by showin' that the banks was clearin' lots 

2-P & p 



18 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



and lots of money. Bank clearin's ! It's clearin's fer 
Snodgrass I want." 

"Let me explain just what bank clearings are," said 
Evans, "and I believe you'll look at the matter dif- 
ferently." 

"Suppose there are ten banks in a city. A buys 
some goods of B and gives him a check on bank No. 1. 
But B does business at Bank No. 10. He takes the 
check to bank No. 10 and gets the check cashed. But 
bank No. 10 has to take the check to bank No. 1, on 
which the check is drawn, to get its money back. Or 
perhaps it is a draft instead of a check. During a day 
each one of the ten banks cashes a lot of checks pay- 
able by other banks, and has to send a man to each one 
of them to get its money back. So, to save all this 
running around, the banks have a common meeting 
place called a clearing house. A friend of mine took 
me to one just to show me how they work it. It runs 
about this way — Each bank sends a clerk to the clear- 
ing house every day at noon. Clerk of bank No. 1 
says to clerk of bank No. 2, 'Here are checks to the 
amount of $5,000, drawn on you, which we have paid, 
and we'd like you to pay us back.' Clerk of bank No. 
2 replies, 'Here are checks to the amount of $4,000, 
drawn on you, which we have paid, so instead of owing 
you $5,000, we owe only a balance of $1,000, and here's 
an order for the $1,000, and we are square.' So it 
goes clear down the line with every bank till all are 
square with each other. They shorten the operation 
somewhat ; but, in effect, that's the way a clearing house 
works. The amounts of money paid by the banks on 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



19 



checks and drafts drawn on the other banks constitute 
the clearings. You see, Snodgrass, the banks don't 
make anything at all on the clearings, and they must 
pay out money for the running expenses of the clearing 
Jiouse." 

"Well, if that's what it means, it's different," said 
Snodgrass, "but I supposed that bank clearin's was 
what the banks made, clear profit, and put down their 
jeans." 

The blacksmith continued : "When the people are 
doing lots of business they are giving lots of checks. 
When they are giving lots of checks the clearings are 
large. When business is slack it's just the other way. 
That's why the bank clearings indicate almost infalli- 
bly the amount of business being done in the country. 

"I have made up a table of bank clearings by years, 
beginning with March 1, 1885, so that the years corre- 
spond, practically, with the presidential years. I made 
it up from statements of bank clearings in Bradstreet's 
of January 1, 1898, and March 3, 1900. I shall refer 
to this table again later on. The only use I am now 
making of it is to show the prosperous condition of 
business during Harrison's administration." 

Here Evans unrolled and tacked to the wall a large 
piece of paper on which was the following table: 

TABLE NO. 1. 

BANK CLEARINGS OP THE UNITED STATES. 
Year beginning March 1 — 
Cleveland's first term. 

1885 $43,259,000,000 

1886 49,092,000,000 

1S87 50,029,000,000 

1888 50,359,000,000 



20 



PROSPEEITY AND POLITICS 



Harrison's administration. 



1889 57,041,000,000 

1890 59,921,000,000 

1891 58,708,000,000 

1892 62,063,000,000 

Cleveland's second term. 

1893 50,272,000,000, decrease from 1892, 19 % 

1894 45,930,000,000, decrease from 1892, 26 % 

1895 53,948,000,000, decrease from 1892, 13 % 

1896 50,406,000,000, decrease from 1892, 19 % 

McKinley's administration. 

1897 60,420,000,000, increase over 1896, 20 % 

1898 72,420,000,000, increase over 1896, 43 % 

1899 92,068,000,000, increase over 1896, 82 % 



After an opportunity had been given to all to look 
over the table carefully, Evans said : "I have only this 
to say: A candid man, after examining these figures, 
and comparing the bank clearings during Harrison's 
administration with those of other years, must do one 
of two things; he must deny the reliability of bank 
clearings as indicating the business condition of the 
country, or he must admit that during Harrison's ad- 
ministration we were doing a tremendous business." 

Curtis, the carpenter, then spoke up : "Wasn't the 
country prosperous during Cleveland's first term?" 

"Yes," said Evans, "but not so prosperous as it was 
during the next four years. According to the bank 
clearings, the country was doing about one-fourth more 
business each year, on the average, while Harrison was 
President than it was while Cleveland was President 
the first time. But you should bear in mind that dur- 
ing all of Cleveland's first term the Senate was Repub- 
lican, and the Democrats were powerless to put their 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



21 



theories into practice. The Republican tariff law of 
1883 was in undisturbed operation, and the Democrats 
were not, at that time, clamoring for free silver. 

"Here is another set of figures that have a direct 
and important bearing on the matter I am talking 
about. It is taken from Bradstreet's of January 6, 
1900. It gives the total number of individuals, firms 
and corporations in the United States engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits in the calendar years named ; the num- 
ber failing; the per cent, failing; and the liabilities." 
And Evans hung up on the wall another large piece of 
paper having upon it the following table : 

TABLE NO. 2. 
COMMERCIAL FAILURES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Number in 


Number 


Per cent. 




Year — business. 


failing. 


failing. 


Liabilities. 


Cleveland's first term. 








1885 . , , 890,000 


11,116 


1. 


25 


$119,100,000 




10,568 


1. 


15 


113,600,000 


1887 . , , 933,000 


9,740 


1. 


04 


130,600,000 


1888 955,000 


10,587 


1. 


10 


120,200,000 


Harrison's administration. 








1889 .... 978,000 


11,719 


1. 


20 


140,700,000 


1890 989,000 


10,673 


1. 


07 


175,000,000 


1891 . , 1,010,000 


12,394 


1. 


,22 


193,100,000 


1892 1,035,000 


10,270 


1. 


00 


108,500,000 


Cleveland's second term. 








1893 1,050,000 


15,560 


1. 


,50 


402,400,000 


1894 1,047,000 


12,721 


1, 


.21 


149,500,000 


1895 1,054,000 


13,013 


1. 


,23 


158,800,000 


1896 , , . . 1,080,000 


15,112 


1 


.40 


247,000,000 


McKinley's administration. 








1897 , , , 1,086,000 


13,099 


1 


.20 


156,100,000 


1898 , , . 1,093,000 


11,638 


1 


.06 


141,100,000 


1899 1,125,000 


9,634 




.85 


119,700,000 



22 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



"You see/' said Evans, "that in 1892, out of 
1,035,000 engaged in business, only 10,270 failed; that 
only one in a hundred failed; and that the liabilities 
were only $108,000,000 — a splendid showing. 

"Although the amount of business during Harri- 
son's administration, as shown by the bank clearings, 
was much greater than it was during the four years 
previous, there was no increase in the percentage of 
failures. 

"Late in 1890 occurred the most tremendous bank- 
ing failure of modern times — that of the Barings in 
London. It arose from conditions existing in foreign 
countries, for which the Republican party was in no 
wise accountable. It shook the financial world from 
center to circumference, and caused much business dis- 
aster in the United States in 1891. But, under the wise 
policy of Republicanism, the country soon resumed a 
healthful business condition. 

"I think I have said enough to convince any rea- 
sonable man that during Harrison's administration the 
country was prosperous, and that the year 1892 was 
one of very great prosperity." 

A tall farmer arose and said : "David, you've given 
us just the kind of a talk I like to hear; but I want 
more to hear it than are here tonight, and I move that 
this meeting adjourn to meet next Saturday evening 
in the school house." 

Another man said : "I am a Populist, but I'm not 
afraid to hear both sides, especially when everything is 
in good feeling. I second the motion." 

It seemed as if everybody voted "aye." 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



23 



The blacksmith was evidently disconcerted. He 
said: "I can talk all right here in the shop where I 
work all day; but I'm kind o' afraid of that proposi- 
tion. But if yon say so, I'll try it." 

And the crowd dispersed. 



24 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



CHAPTEK III. 

The school house was crowded when the time came 
to begin the meeting the next Saturday evening. On 
the wall Evans had placed Tables 1 and 2, that he had 
used at the previous meeting at the shop. After stat- 
ing briefly the gist of what he had said at the first 
meeting, Evans began: 

"Very soon after the Democrats took full control 
of the government in March, 1893, manufactories began 
to shut down, banks failed, railroads went into the 
hands of receivers, labor was thrown out of employ- 
ment, and the country went down into the slough of 
financial and industrial depression for four long, weary 
years. 

"In 1892 the bank clearings were the largest ever 
known; in 1893 there was a decrease unparalleled in 
the history of the nation. 

"In 1892 the number of business failures was the 
smallest it had been in five years; in 1893 it was the 
largest ever known. 

"In 1892 the percentage of business failures was 
the smallest it had been in ten years; in 1893 it was 
the largest ever known. 

"In 1892 the liabilities of those who failed were the 
smallest they had been in ten years; in 1893 they were 
the largest ever known. 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



25 



"Bradstreet's of December 30, 1893, says: 

'The business year 1893 promises to go into history with 
heavier net losses in financial, commercial and industrial 
circles throughout the United States than in the more severe 
among other panic periods in the past eighty years.' 

"During Harrison's administration the principal of 
the public debt was reduced $233,000,000; during 
Cleveland's second term the principal of the public 
debt was increased $262,000,000, and an annual in- 
terest charge of $11,000,000 entailed. 

"Look at these figures on the wall," said Evans, 
pointing to Tables 1 and 2. "They show beyond dis- 
pute the terrible financial disasters and the hard times 
of Cleveland's second term. The business interests of 
the country made a desperate struggle to rise under 
their fearful load; but improvement was only partial 
and temporary. The ruin accomplished and the ruin 
threatened by the Democracy was too much ; and Cleve- 
land went out of office with the industries of the coun- 
try in a most pitiable condition. Notice how similar 
1896 — the year when the Democrats made their deadly 
effort to force a depreciated dollar on the country — is 
to 1893 in the small bank clearings and the large num- 
ber of failures. 

"True, business men, after the election in Novem- 
ber, 1896, knew that a party would soon have control 
of the government that knew how to run it. And this 
knowledge gave hope, and in some measure helped to 
stay the awful ravages of Democracy, just as a sick 
man takes new hope when he learns that a competent 
doctor has been called to take the place of the blunder- 



26 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



nig doctor who has brought him near death's door; but 
the new hope can not take the place, nor do the work, 
of applied remedies." 

I would like to know," said a young man on the 
front seat, who had been paying close attention, "if the 
country was so prosperous in 1892 why was it that the 
people, that very year, voted for a change of parties V y 
The blacksmith smiled and replied : "By the time 
you are as old as I am you will learn that there are 
lots of people who don't know when they are well off. 
They are unwilling to let well enough alone, and are 
ready to follow after the man who makes big promises. 
!N"o one ever promised such great things as the Demo- 
crats, in the campaign of 1892, said would be sure to 
come to the people if they would turn the country over 
to the Democratic party. And so, in 1893, the people 
found themselves about in the condition of the man 
whose epitaph read as follows: 

I WAS WELL, 
I WANTED TO BE BETTER, 
I TOOK MEDICINE, 
AND HERE I AM. 

Evans continued: "The vast difference between 
the condition of things in 1892 and in 1893, which I 
have shown, of itself proves that the change was sud- 
den — that is, sudden considering the vast and intricate 
and mighty industrial energies which were in full 
operation in 1892. Of course, no power on earth 
could shut down everything all at once ; but the Demo- 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



27 



cratic party made a most remarkable success in that 
line. 

"Of the suddenness and greatness of the change, 
Dun's Review of December 30, 1893, says: 

'Starting with the largest trade ever known, mills crowd- 
ed with work, and all business stimulated by high hopes, the 
year 1893 has proved in sudden shrinkage of trade, in com- 
mercial disasters and depression of industries, the worst for 50 
years. Whether the final results of the panic of 1837 were 
relatively more severe the scanty records of that time do not 
clearly show.' 

"During the last six months of Harrison's admin- 
istration five national banks went into the hands of 
receivers; during the first six months of Cleveland's 
administration, fifty. 

"On this point it might be well to give the testi- 
mony of the man whom the Democratic party put for- 
ward in 1892 as the greatest statesman of the nation. 
The message of President Cleveland to Congress, called 
together in extra session August 7, 1893, says: 

'With plenteous crops, with abundant promise of re- 
munerative production and manufacture, with unusual invita- 
tion to safe investment, and with satisfactory assurance to 
business enterprise, suddenly financial distrust and fear have 
sprung up on every side.' 

"By the way, that sounds a good deal like what 
Buchanan said in his message to Congress in 1857. 
Remember that Buchanan's administration was the last 
one before Cleveland's in which the Democrats had full 
control of the government. Buchanan said : 

'We have possessed all the elements of material wealth 
in rich abundance, and yet, notwithstanding all these ad- 
vantages, our country, in its monetary interests, is at the 



•28 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



present moment in a deplorable condition. In the midst of 
unsurpassed plenty in all the productions of agriculture and 
in all the elements of national wealth, vre find our manu- 
factures suspended, our public works retarded, our private 
enterprises of different kinds abandoned, and thousands of 
useful laborers thrown out of employment and reduced to 
want.' 

"The rapidity with which bank clearings decreased 
after the Democrats took charge of the government in 
March, 1893, shows how soon business decreased. 
Here is a table, taken from Bradstreet's of March 3, 
1900, giving the bank clearings by months during 
Harrison's last year and Cleveland's first year. If it 
does not show a sudden and awful change for the 
worse on the coming into power of the Democracy, 
nothing can: 

BANK CLEARINGS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Harrison's Cleveland's 



last year. first year. 

March, 1892. March, 1893. 

to March, 1893. to March, 1894. Decrease. 

March $5,269,000,000 $5,397,000,000 

April 5,071,000,000 4,933,000,000 $ 138,000,000 

May 5,015,000,000 5,263,000,000 

June 4,921,000,000 4,533,000,000 388,000,000 

July 4,622,000,000 4,142,000,000 480,000,000 

August 4,508,000,000 3,343,000,000 1,165,000,000 

Sept 4,778,000,000 3,316,000,000 1,462,000,000 

Oct 5,473,000,000 3,998,000,000 1,475,000,000 

Nov 5,447,000,000 4,062,000,000 1,385,000,000 

Dec 5,973,000,000 4,047,000,000 1,926,000,000 

Jan 5,926,000,000 4,043,000,000 1,883,000,000 

Feb 5,060,000,000 3,195,000,000 1,865,000,000 



Totals $62,063,000,000 $50,272,000,000 $11,791,000,000 

"And yet," said Evans. <; in the face of such facts 
as these, and other proof that might be piled mountain 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



29 



high, it is claimed by the enemies of the Republican 
party that there was no particular difference between 
the times in 1892 and in 1893. In fact, they main- 
tain that all through Harrison's administration we were 
gradually drifting down to the condition of things 
existing in 1893." 

"Gradually drifting," said one old farmer, who 
wore a bronze button on the lapel of his coat, to his 
neighbor ; "it rather strikes me that it was a regular 
Niagara Falls plunge." 

The young man on the front seat who, a few min- 
utes before, had asked why it was that the people in 
the midst of their prosperity in 1892 had voted for a 
change of parties, indicated that he would like to make 
another inquiry. 

"What is it C asked Evans. 

ir Why do they make such a claim as that ?" 

iC l can account for it only on the theory that mem 
in the intensity of partisan zeal, will permit their eyes 
to be blinded to the most patent facts." 

Henderson, the man who, in the first part of our 
story, had so denounced the Republican party for its 
unconstitutional tendencies, was sitting in a far corner 
of the room. A man near him touched his elbow and 
whispered : "What do you think of that for proof ?" 

"Proof nuthin'," responded Henderson. "A man 
who has a logical mind, and who has been on to the 
Republican party ever since the war, as I have, won't 
be fooled by such stuff. Evans is all right, only he 
doesn't take broad enough views. Just come over to 
my house some day and I'll show you how Lincoln 



30 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



tramped on the constitution and usurped the preroga- 
tives of Congress." 

Billson stood up and said: "You've had a good 
deal to say about business failures and busted banks 
after Cleveland took his seat; but I'm not so much 
concerned about them. I want to hear something about 
how it was with the laboring man." 

"I was just coming to that," replied the blacksmith. 
"In the first place, it can easily be inferred that when 
financial and business institutions are crumbling, the 
man who earns his daily bread by his daily wages is 
faring badly enough. But I have something more 
directly in point. 

"You know that the Democratic party always poses 
as the special friend and helper of the laboring men, 
and it appealed strongly, to that element for support 
in the campaign of 1892. How did it fulfill its prom- 
ises of more work and higher wages ? 

"Here is what Bradstreet's of December 30, 1893, 
.says : 

'There are more than 1,000,000 industrial and other 
wage earners in enforced idleness throughout the country- 
more than were similarly situated one year ago. 
This consideration points to a total loss in wages paid to date, 
as compared with last year, of between $30,000,000 and $40,000,- 
000, aside from heavier losses to manufacturers and others, 
the shutting down of whose works and establishments has 
rendered idle the wage earners referred to. It appears that 
the output of iron throughout the country has been curtailed 
more than 40 per cent., heavy woolen goods 35 per cent., print 
cloths, a relatively prosperous branch of the cotton goods in- 
dustry, 10 per cent., and leather and shoes about 30 per cent.' 

"There you have it," said the blacksmith, with great 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



31 



earnestness. "One million men thrown out of employ- 
ment in the short space of a few months. 

"Dun's Keview of December 30, 1893, speaking of 
the closing year 1893, says: 

'The year closes with prices of many products the lowest 
ever known, with millions of workers seeking in vain for 
work, and with charity laboring to keep back suffering and 
starvation in all our cities. All hope the new year may bring 
brighter days; but the dying year leaves only a dismal record.' 

"There you have it again," shouted Evans at the 
top of his voice. " 'Millions of workers seeking 
in vain for work.' Just compare that with what this 
same paper said at the close of 1892, and see how it 
tallies with the statements that we had about as hard 
times in 1892 as we had in 1893. 

"Samuel Gompers, a Democrat, president of the 
American Federation of Labor, in a statement found 
on page 11 of the Proceedings of the American Feder- 
ation of Labor Convention, held on December 11, 1893, 
says : 

'Since August of this year we have been in the greatest 
industrial depression this country has ever experienced. It 
is no exaggeration to say that more than three million of our 
fellow toilers throughout the country are toithout employment 
and have been so since the time named. . . . Never in 
the history of the world has so large a number of people vainly 
sought for an opportunity to earn a livelihood and contribute 
to the support of their fellows.' 

"It seems to me that I have answered your question 
pretty fully," said Evans, turning to Billson. 

"And as it was in the beginning of Cleveland's 
administration, so it was at the close. The laboring 
man was still in sore distress. In a speech in Congress 



32 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



on January 17, 1898, James Hamilton Lewis, a Demo- 
cratic Congressman from Washington, referring to the 
condition of the country at the time of the election in 
November, 1896, said: 

'At the time of this election there were 3,500,000 people 
who were in need, 500,000 of them in want, 250,000 of whom, 
as it appears by the reports of the charity associations of New 
York and Illinois (and of the United States), were in want 
and beggars at the door of the nation's charity.' 

Snodgrass was again upon his feet to ask a question. 
He said : "I'd like to know what all this has to do with 
the main question ? What the people wants is facts 
about the robbin' of the masses by the contractin' of 
the currency and the burnin' of the people's money 
under the law of March 3, 1865, that was signed by 
Lincoln as he was follerin' out the behests of Wall 
Street." And Snodgrass sat down. 

"It has nothing to do with it," replied Evans, with 
some warmth. "Nobody supposed it had anything to 
do with it. That's just the way with some of you 
fellows. When a man is trying to talk in a logical 
way along some definite line of thought, all at once you 
fly away off to one side, and bring up something that 
has nothing whatever to do with the subject under dis- 
cussion. I am going to stick to the subject as I out- 
lined it at the shop. And, besides, the time has gone 
by, it seems to me, when it is necessary to defend 
Abraham Lincoln against the charge of being untrue 
to the best interests of the great common people. Even 
the Democrats who cursed him when alive now begin 
to find words of praise for him." 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



33 



Snodgrass, with a look of triumph on his face, 
leaned forward and whispered to a man with long 
whiskers, "I never seed a Republican yit that wouldn't 
back right down when you came straight at him with 
the contractin' of the currency and the burnin' of the 
people's money." To which the much bewhiskered man 
emphatically nodded assent three times. 

Evans proceeded : "With the country in the awful 
condition that I have just shown, McKinley and the 
Republican party came into power on March 4, 1897. 
It takes longer to build up ruined business than it does 
to destroy prosperous business. If the business of a 
wholesale house is in miserably bad condition, and a 
new manager takes hold of it and has it running in 
good shape in six months, we call it a great success. 
All the more is it a great success when, in a few months, 
by new management and the application of different 
political and economical principles, the prostrate busi- 
ness of a nation is made prosperous. The improvement 
in the condition of the country under McKinley was 
great and rapid. In a short time the bank clearings 
began to show a marked increase over those of the pre- 
vious year, indicating a marked increase in business. 
This is shown by the following table, taken from Brad- 
street's of March 3, 1900, showing the bank clearings 
by months during Cleveland's last year and McKinley's 
first year, and the great increase under Republican rule. 
See how soon business revived after the party of pro- 
tection and sound money took control. It was like 
showers of rain on parched fields ! 



34 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



BANK CLEARINGS OP THE UNITED STATES. 



Cleveland's McKinley's 

last year. first year. 

March, 1896, March, 1897, 

to March, 1897. to March, 1898. Increase. 

March $4,114,000,000 $4,195,000,000 $ 81,000,000 

April 4,285,000,000 4,092,000,000 

May 4,222,000,000 4,158,000,000 

June 4,281,000,000 4,456,000,000 175,000,000 

July 4,350,000,000 4,803,000,000 453,000,000 

Aug 3,530,000,000 4,810,000,000 1,280,000,000 

Sept 3,667,000,000 5,521,000,000 1,854,000,000 

Oct 4,551,000,000 5,602,000,000 1,051,000,000 

Nov 4,567,000,000 5,361,000,000 794,000,000 

Dec .. 4,687,000,000 5,935,000,000 1,248,000,000 

Jan 4,480,000,000 5,971,000,000 1,491,000,000 

Feb 3,672,000,000 5,516,000,000 1,844,000,000 



Totals ....$50,406,000,000 $60,420,000,000 $10,014,000,000 

"Look at Table No. 1. See what a marvelous in- 
crease there was in bank clearings in 1898 and 1899. 

"Look at Table No. 2. Notice the great decrease 
in the number of business failures in 1897 and the 
two years following. See how the liabilities fell off. 

"Mr. Bryan, in his speech in Madison Square Gar- 
den, New York, August 12, 1896, declared: 'It is only 
necessary to note the increasing number of failures in 
order to know that the gold standard is ruinous to 
merchants and manufacturers.' We now say: 'It is 
only necessary to note the decreasing number of failures 
in order to know that the gold standard is beneficial to 
merchants and manufacturers.' 

"During the last six months of Cleveland's admin- 
istration thirty-four national banks went into the hands 
of receivers ; during the first six months of McKinley's 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



35 



administration only eleven national banks went into the 
hands of receivers. 

"The great change for the better, brought about in 
so short a time, is thus summed up in Dun's Review of 
January 1, 1S98, and, by the way, Billson, I wish you'd 
pay special attention to what it says about the laboring 
man : 

'A new year opens with conditions radically different 
from those which prevailed a year ago. Great financial dis- 
trust existed then, but has passed away. After a whole year 
of entire freedom from disturbance or alarm, in which the 
country has paid heavy foreign indebtedness, taken and paid 
many millions for stocks sent from abroad, and accumulated 
credits against other countries represented by merchandise 
balances more than $320,000,000 in its favor for the past five 
months, with deferred exchanges for more than $20,000,000 
held by New York banks alone, while the great industries have 
been pushing their way into foreign markets with unprece- 
dented success, the monetary situation is no longer a matter 
of anxiety. More than half a million men in a few states, ac- 
cording to official reports, are employed now who were idle a 
year ago; and the general advance in -wages for those employed, 
has gone far to restore the rates prevailing before the panic' 

"And Bradstreet's of January 1, 1898, says: 

'Some interesting features are clearly brought out by the 
1897 report of business failures to Bradstreet's. First and fore- 
most is a heavy falling off, alike in number and in liabilities 
of those individuals, firms or corporations succumbing to the 
pressure of unfavorable circumstances, primarily indicating a 
return of prosperous conditions in general business. . 
Prices at the close of the year are as a whole on a higher range 
than at the opening. . . . Railroad interests share in the 
revival of prosperity, with gross and net earnings larger than 
any year since 1893, and the year 1898 opens with the business 
community, with the few exceptions noted, in a very cheerful 
frame of mind.' 



36 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



"Here is a table, made up from figures furnished 
by Bradstreet's, giving the number of failures, with 
amount of liabilities, by months, during Cleveland's 
last year and McKinley's first year. It proves con- 
clusively that as soon as the Republican party took 
charge of the government business conditions became 
vastly better than they were under Democratic rule: 

COMMERCIAL FAILURES IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Cleveland's McKinley's 

last year. first year. 

March, 1896, March, 1897, 

to March, 1897. to March, 1898 

Number of Number of 

failures. failures. Net decrease 

March 1,121 980 141 

April 1,050 980 70 

May 996 1,054 

June 1,037 930 107 

July 1,203 1,037 166 

Aug 1,175 961 214 

Sept 1,285 795 49a 

Oct. 1,234 1,011 223 

Nov 1,226 1,058 168 

Dec 1,412 1,217 195 

Jan 1,867 1,540 327 

Feb 1,193 993 200 



Totals 14,799 12,556 2,243 

Liabilities Liabilities 

March $17,383,065 $11,321,026 $ 6,062,039 

April 14,920,714 17,847,990 

May 13,470,335 13,461,542 8,79? 

June 14,451,488 11,619,377 2,832,111 

July 17,321,664 9,266,690 8,054,974 

Aug 26,110,366 9,815,545 16,294,821 

Sept 23,351,274 6,556,401 16,794,873 

Oct 16,245,082 10,598,739 5,646,343 

Nov 23,104,052 10,394,545 12,709,507 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



37 



Dec. 
Jan. 
Feb. 



35,927,109 
25,490,042 
16,039,037 



17,354,529 
14,359,335 
10,062,079 



18,572,580 
11,130,707 
5,976,958 



Totals 



$243,814,228 



$142,657,798 



$101,156,430 



"Samuel Gompers, whom I quoted a few minutes 
ago, in an article published in New York on January 
1, 1898, said: 

'That terrible period for the wage-earners of this country 
which began in 1893 and which has left behind it such a record 
of horror, hunger and misery practically ended with the dawn 
■of the year 1891. Wages had been steadily forced down from 
1893 till toward the end of 1895, and it was variously esti- 
mated that between two million and two and a half million 
wage-earners were unemployed.' 

"Dun's Review on December 31, 1898, said: 
'The year has not only been one of victory, of important 
increase in territory and of incalculable expansion of the in- 
fluence of the United States among other nations, but has sur- 
passed all other years in financial and industrial results. The 
center of financial power has crossed the ocean. After paying 
debts of several hundred millions abroad and conducting a war 
to an honorable end, the country is lending so many millions 
in Europe that for the first time banks abroad look to New 
York to dictate the rate of exchange.' 

Evans added : "I shall offer no more proof on this 
point. The evidence is absolutely overwhelming that 
never in the history of the world has there been so 
rapid and so tremendous a revival of business as there 
was in this country after the coming into power of the 
Republican party in March, 1897 ; and that prosperity 
has continued until today." 

Curtis arose and said : "I'll admit that hard times 
•came with Cleveland and that good times came with 
McKinley. In the face of the facts you've given us, 



38 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



I don't see how any man can deny that. But I don't 
believe that politics have anything to do with the kind 
of times we have. I believe that hard times are due 
about every so often, and that they're bound to come,, 
it doesn't make any difference what party is in power* 
And lots of Democrats think the same way." 

"Curtis," said Evans, "will you please tell me when 
hard times are again due in this country ?" 

"I can't tell just when." 

"Well, if you can't tell just when, tell us about 
when." 

"I don't know as I can," said Curtis. 

"Can you give me the name and postoffice address 
of some man who can tell?" 

"No," said Curtis, rather uneasily. 

"Well, if there's anything in the theory that hard 
times are bound to come about every so often, some one 
ought to be able to tell in advance, by counting up the 
years, about when to expect them. If the theory, when 
applied to the facts, doesn't work, it proves the theory 
false. That's the test of all theories. 

"I tell you, Curtis, it isn't the lapse of a certain 
interval of time that makes hard times ; it's conditions 
that make them — and different party principles make 
different conditions. And we can avoid the hard times 
caused by wrong political principles if we'll only be 
taught by experience. 

"And when did you Democrats get on to the theory 
that politics have nothing to do with the kind of times 
we have ? In the campaign of 1892 didn't you tell 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



39 



the people that there would be good times in 1893, 
provided the Democrats were placed in power ?" 
"Yes." 

"In other words, you claimed at that time that 
politics had a good deal to do with the kind of times 
we had ?" 

"That's about the way of it." 

"And didn't you tell the people in the campaign of 
1896 that there would be awful hard times in 1897, 
and later, if the Republicans won ?" 

"There's no need of our trying to deny it," replied 
Curtis. 

"Eow," said the blacksmith, "doesn't it strike you 
as a trifle inconsistent for the Democrats to say, 'Oh, 
politics had nothing to do with the hard times that 
began in 1893, or the good times that began in 1897. 
Hard times were about due in 1893, and good times 
in 1897. And they would have come, whichever party 
was in power V " * 

Curtis was apparently made somewhat ill at ease 
by the blacksmith's questions regarding the hard-times- 
about-every-so-often theory. He shifted his feet rest- 
lessly, and responded : "It does look a little that way, 
I'll admit. But I never paid any attention to the 
theory till lately, and there may be some things about 
it that I haven't found out." 

He was about to take his seat when Evans said: 
"Curtis, I'd like to ask you one more question. Sup- 
pose you felt a little indisposed and called in a doctor, 
and that as soon as you began taking his medicine you 
got desperately sick, and stayed that way as long as 



40 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



lie had you in charge. Suppose you sent for another 
doctor whose treatment was radically different from that 
of the first doctor, and as soon as he began treating you 
you got rapidly better, and were soon well. When the 
last doctor presented his bill, how would it have sounded 
for you to say, 'I believe I would have got along just 
as well if I had kept the other doctor. Hard sickness 
was due when he had me in charge, and, naturally, it 
was time for me to get well when you took charge 
of me?'" 

"It wouldn't have sounded very well," said Curtis. 
"I should rather say not," responded Evans. 
Curtis seemed exceedingly glad to take his seat. 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



41 



CHAPTEE IV. 

Evans proceeded : "I now come directly to the last 
part of my subject. What caused the great and rapid 
change for the worse when Cleveland and the Demo- 
crats took charge of the government in 1893 ? What 
caused the great and rapid change for the better when 
McKinley and the Republicans took charge of the gov- 
ernment in 1897 ? 

"To me it is as clear as noonday that the main 
cause was the great and radical difference between the 
two parties with reference to the tariff and with refer- 
ence to free silver. 

"If there is anything that the Democratic party 
hates to do it is to come out fairly and squarely, and 
in unmistakable terms state its position on the tariff 
question. This arises from the fact that the Demo- 
crats have difficulty in knowing their own minds on 
the subject, and partly from the fact that they are 
generally willing, as shown by their platforms, to 
change their views, if by so doing they think they can 
beat the Republicans. In fact," said Evans, smiling, 
"the Democrats would be true to their record if, in the 
future, they would always adopt the following tariff 
plank: 'We, the Democratic party, in National Con- 
vention assembled, looking around upon a ruined coun- 
try, hereby solemnly declare as our position on the 



42 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



tariff that we are in favor of any old thing to down 
the Republicans.' 

"Mind you, I am speaking of the Democrats as a 
party. There are many individual Democrats who 
have clearly denned views on the tariff and who con- 
sistently maintain them. 

"See how the Democrats have wobbled on the tariff : 
"In 1872 the Democrats nominated for President 
Horace Greeley, the most noted protectionist of his 
time. 

"In 1876 and 1880 they declared for a tariff for 
revenue only, but gave no clear intimation as to what 
they meant by the expression." 

The young man on the front seat asked: "Just 
what is a tariff for revenue only V 9 

"A tariff for revenue only is one that produces reve- 
nue, but does not encourage the home production of 
the article upon which it is levied," replied Evans. 
"It is a tax on imported goods exactly equal to the 
internal revenue tax on the same kind of goods. 

"The best example of a tariff for revenue only, 
and about the only example among civilized nations, 
is that of Great Britain, whose system of tariff is 
usually called free trade. It is levied upon a very 
few articles, mainly coffee, tea and liquors; and an 
internal revenue tax, equal to the duty, is placed upon 
any of these articles produced in Great Britain. For 
instance, a French brewer in Bordeaux, selling in Lon- 
don, and an English brewer in London, have to pay the 
same tax on their goods. The foreign manufacturer 
and the home manufacturer are on exactly the same 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



43 



footing'. It is impossible for such a tariff to encourage 
the home production of the goods on which it is levied. 

"On the other hand, a protective tariff not only 
produces revenue, but it also encourages the home pro- 
duction of the goods on which it is levied by protecting 
the home producer from ruinous foreign competition. 
Under our present Eepublican tariff law, if a foreign 
wool grower sells his wool in this country, he must pay 
eleven cents a pound for the privilege. If we want a 
tariff for revenue only on wool, we should also put an 
internal revenue tax of eleven cents on every pound 
of wool produced in this country." 

"Jehosaphat !" exclaimed an excited farmer. "Do 
you mean that I'd have to pay eleven cents on every 
pound of wool I raise on my farm ?" 

"Yes, sir." 

ir Well, a protective tariff is good enough for me," 
said the farmer with great emphasis. 

Evans went on: "In 1884 the Democrats declared 
merely for tariff revision and reduction, and said : 

'The necessary reduction in taxation can and must be 
effected without depriving American labor of the ability to 
compete successfully with foreign labor, and without imposing 
lower rates of duty than will be ample to cover any increased 
cost of production which may be necessary in consequence of 
the higher rates of wages prevailing in this country.' 1 

"In 1888 they again declared for a revision of the 
tariff, 'with due regard for the difference between the 
wages of American and foreign labor/ 

"But in their Xational Convention of 1892 the 
Democrats, expressed no desire, as they had in their two 
conventions previous, to maintain 'the higher rates of 



44 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



wages prevailing in this country/ which has always 
been a cardinal principle of Republicanism; but de- 
nounced protection as a fraud, as robbery, and as un- 
constitutional, and promised to repeal the tariff law 
then upon our statute books. Never before had they 
taken so hostile an attitude. 

"The Republicans in 1892, as they always have 
done, declared fairly and squarely for protection. 

"It is a fact known to every intelligent man that 
the tariff issue was the predominating one in the cam- 
paign of 1892. The Democrats won. 

"For a time the country, knowing the wavering 
course of the Democracy on the tariff question, hardly 
believed that the Democrats really meant to carry out 
their principles as announced in their platform and 
declared on the stump. But it gradually developed 
that the prevailing demand in the party was for de- 
cisive and radical action. The Louisville Courier- 
Journal, the most powerful Democratic paper in the 
Ohio valley, spoke thus of the Democratic triumph at 
the polls : 

'It ends forever all disputes about tariff policies. It is 
an announcement to America and the world that the govern- 
ment of the United States has at last stepped out of the depths 
of the bondage of protectionism and upon the broad open high- 
way of free trade with all mankind.' 

"On March 4, 1893, the triumphant Democracy 
took charge of the government and had the power to 
enact and execute any tariff law that suited them; and 
it soon became evident that the dominating element of 
the party, elated by their sweeping victory at the polls, 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



45 



meant just what they said in their platform in 1892 r 
and that they aimed at nothing less than the practical 
destruction of the protective system which they de- 
nounced as robbery, as fraud, and as unconstitutional." 

"Mr. Evans/' said Henderson, "protection is un- 
constitutional. Years ago I studied the constitution 
carefully, and I know it said so plainly enough." 

"Did it sound something like this ?" said Evans, 
picking up a small book from the table and reading: 
'But no bounty shall be granted from the treasury; nor 
shall any duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations 
be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry.' 

"Yes, that's it; it sounds familiar like," exclaimed 
Henderson. 

"By golly! You've got him now," said Snodgrass 
excitedly to Henderson. 

"Yes," said Evans, "I am reading from Article I 
of the Confederate constitution, adopted March ll r 
1861." 

Amid a general laugh Henderson ceased his efforts 
to prove the unconstitutionality of a protective tariff. 

The blacksmith proceeded: "The manufacturing 
interests of the country became alarmed. For exam- 
ple, the woolen manufacturer said: 'The Democrats 
have promised free wool. If I buy wool at present 
prices, and make it into goods, I can not sell the goods 
in competition with the manufacturer who waits until 
the Democrats take the duty off of wool, and then buys 
it at a much lower price and makes it into goods.' So 
he stopped buying wool of the people to make into 
goods, and his employes went hunting for work. The- 



46 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



wholesaler stopped buying goods of the factory; the 
retailer stopped buying goods of the wholesaler; and 
the people, in their distress, stopped buying goods of 
the retailer. 

"So it was in almost every line of manufactures. 
Manufacturers could guard against small changes in 
the tariff : but the changes threatened by the Demo- 
crats were so sweeping that vast numbers of them de- 
cided to wait until they could know the conditions 
under which they were to do business, or whether they 
were to be permitted to do business at all; and they 
either shut down entirely or ran on part time. 

"One would think that with the manufacturing in- 
terests of the country in this condition of uncertainty 
and suspense, the Democrats would have hastened to 
do what they intended to do with reference to tariff 
legislation. But no. They delayed and delayed to 
deal with the question at all, and so increased the un- 
certainty and suspense. 

"It was not till the spring of 1894 that the Wilson 
bill passed the lower House. Among other provisions 
destructive of American industry, it placed wool, coal, 
lumber, and iron ore on the free list, and was a long 
step in the direction of free trade. ILr. Wilson said 
that it hadn't so much free trade in it as the people, by 
their votes, had demanded, but was of the opinion that 
it would do as a starter. 

"But many of the Democratic Senators did not 
have the courage of their convictions, and wavered in 
their support of some of the free trade features of the 
bill. They could well hesitate to establish free trade 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



47 



when they could see how the mere threat of free trade 
was contributing powerfully to the awful distress of 
the country. Congress was overwhelmed with protests 
against the bill. President Cleveland urged his fol- 
lowers to face the music, and strike protection a deadly 
blow, and support the bill. But the Senate made many 
amendments to the bill, and sent it back to the House. 

"Finally, in August, 1894, after months of wran- 
gling among themselves, and a year and a half after 
the triumphant Democracy came into power all so eager 
to do away with protection, the Wilson bill, satisfac- 
tory to nobody, became a law without the signature of 
the president. He refused to sign it because it didn't 
have enough free trade in it to suit him, and he charged 
that it was marked by 'party perfidy and dishonor. 7 

"But the law had altogether too much free trade 
in it for the good of the American people, and it soon 
got in its destructive work on American industries and 
American labor. All over the land factories stood 
silent; honest men hunted in vain for work; and hun- 
gry children were tugging at their mothers' skirts and 
begging for the bread she could not give. 

"But the matter did not rest with the passage of 
the Wilson law, bad as it was; but Mr. Wilson and 
other Democratic leaders, including President Cleve- 
land, announced that they had made only a beginning 
of the work. On October 8, 1894, Mr. Wilson, in a 
speech at Charleston, West Virginia, said: 'We have 
now begun to tear down our tariff walls to let us out 
with our products to compete with the rest of the world 
in the markets of the world' — words that sound strange 



48 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



in view of the enormous increase of our exports, espe- 
cially manufactures, under the Dingley law." 

"What is Mr. Wilson doing now ?" asked a man in 
the rear of the room. 

"I'm sure I don't know," responded Evans. "I 
haven't heard of him for years. He seems to have 
been the humble instrument appointed to give the 
American people an object lesson in the beauties of 
free trade, and then go into oblivion. Meanwhile the 
Republican protective tariff is doing business at the 
old stand, and is causing the country to advance so 
rapidly industrially that the nations of the world look 
on in amazement. 

"Is it any wonder that this course of the Demo- 
cratic party played sad havoc with the manufacturing 
interests of the nation ? And does any reasonable man 
believe that this would have been the case had the 
Republicans been continued in power in 1893 ? They 
were not favoring any radical changes in the tariff law, 
which had worked so well for years, and under which, 
as I have shown you, manufactures were in a healthy 
and prosperous condition. 

"It seems to me that nothing of this kind can be 
more closely connected as cause and effect than the put- 
ting into practice of Democratic principles on the one 
hand, and the wide-spread ruin among our manufac- 
turing interests on the other. And, of course, when 
our manufacturing interests suffer, all our business in- 
terests suffer. 

"On the other hand, when the Republican party 
came into power in 1*897, everybody knew just where 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



49 



it stood in regard to manufactures and the protective 
tariff under which they had been built up. Hence 
there was only hope and encouragement. The general 
character of anticipated tariff legislation was known ; 
the only uncertainty was as to details. By July, 1897, 
— a short time compared with the eighteen months dur- 
ing which the Democrats were bringing out their tariff 
law of 1894 — the Dingley law was in operation, and our 
manufactures have prospered under it, and reached out- 
more into the markets of the world than ever before in 
American history. 

"Suppose that when the Republicans came into 
power in 1S9T they had said: 'The protective tariff is 
a robbery and a fraud, and we will tear down our tariff 
walls,' and had then proceded to carry that threat into 
partial execution, as the Democrats did four years be- 
fore. Does any sane man believe that our manufac- 
tures would have flourished as they have since the 
Dingley law went into effect? 

"So much for the tariff." 



4-P& p 



50 



PROSPERITY A*ND POLITICS 



CHAPTEK V. 

"Let us see how the two parties stood on the ques- 
tion of free silver when the Democrats took charge of 
the government in 1893/' said the blacksmith. 

"It's easy enough to tell that," called out a tall man 
from one side of the room. 

"J ust what do you mean ?" asked Evans. 

"I mean," said the tall man, as he rose to his feet, 
"that both parties were for free coinage. All our free 
silver speakers claim that, as you know." 

"When you say free coinage, do you use the words, 
as they are generally used, as meaning free coinage by 
the United States alone, without regard to the action 
of other countries ?" 

"Yes," said the tall man, "that's where the Repub- 
licans stood, and that's what they said in their plat- 
forms all along up to 1896, when the gold bugs cap- 
tured them. I was a Republican myself until 1896, 
and then I voted for Bryan. I didn't leave the party, 
but the party left me." 

"It always tires me more than a hard day's work," 
remarked one farmer to another, "to hear a man talk 
like that about the Republican party leaving him, be- 
cause it wouldn't stand a 50-cent dollar." 

The other man responded: "I guess it must give 
them a sort of majestic feeling to talk that way. Some 
men always like to make out that they're 'it'." 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



51 



Billson spoke up: "Evans, do you remember the 
time you and I went to a political meeting in the city, 
and heard Charles A. Towne of Minnesota speak in 
the 1896 campaign? He had an 1892 Republican 
campaign text-book with him. He said that the book 
advocated free coinage, and read extracts from the book 
to prove it. Do you remember that V 9 

"Yes," said Evans, "and I thought it a good illus- 
tration of how easy it is for a smart speaker to give a 
wrong meaning to a writing by reading extracts from 
it, ingeniously garbled and unfairly interpreted." 

"Do you mean that the book opposes free coinage V 9 
asked Billson. 

"Of course I mean it. The free coinage issue was 
not so clearly drawn in 1892 as it was later, but no 
honest, candid man can read what the book says on the 
silver question, pages 157 to 167, and not admit that it 
argues strongly against free coinage. 

" 'Actions speak louder than words/ is an old adage, 
and a true one," continued the blacksmith. "It is what 
men do, more than what they say, that shows what they 
believe. It is how parties, or their duly accredited 
representatives, vote on certain issues that best shows 
how the parties stand on those issues. It strikes me 
that this is a plain proposition based simply on good 
common sense, I would like to ask, is there any one 
in this room who differs from me in this opinion ?" 

~No one ventured to dissent from such a reasonable 
proposition ; and Curtis whispered to Billson, "No man 
can find any fault with that." 



52 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



"Now," said Evans, "how had the two parties been 
voting in Congress on this question of free coinage ? 

"In 1892 , and for years before, whenever a bill for 
the free coinage of silver came before Congress, an over- 
whelming majority of the Republicans voted against it, 
and an overwhelming majority of the Democrats voted 
for it. 

"It seems to me that this' fact, of itself, is enough 
to close the mouth of any man who says that the Re- 
publican party at that time was in favor of free coinage. 

"For example, a free coinage bill came up for a vote 
in the Senate on July 1, 1892, about three weeks after 
the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, 
and the vote, including pairs, stood as follows : 

SENATE VOTE ON FREE COINAGE, JULY 1, 1892. 

For. Against. 

Republicans 13, or 29 % 32, or 71 % 

Democrats 30, or 77 % 9, or 23 % 

Independents 2 

Totals 45 41 

"Seventy-one per cent, of the Republicans voted 
against free coinage, and 77 per cent, of the Democrats 
voted for it. Yet we are told that at this time the 
Republican party was in favor of free coinage. 

"This bill then went to the House, and a resolution 
to consider it came up for a vote July 13, 1892. Of 
course, those who were in favor of free silver would 
vote for the resolution, and those who were against free 
coinage would vote against the resolution. The vote 
stood thus : 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



53 



HOUSE VOTE TO CONSIDER FREE COINAGE BILL, JULY 

13, 1892. 



For. Against. 

Republicans 9, or 16 % 60, or 84 % 

Democrats 118, or 56 % 94, or 44 % 

Independents 9 

Totals 136 154 



"Eighty-four per cent, of the Republicans voted 
against considering the bill, and hence, against free 
coinage. Fifty-six per cent, of the Democrats voted 
for considering the bill, and hence for free coinage. 
Yet we are told that at this time the Republican party 
was in favor of free coinage. 

"As another instance, on June 17, 1890, a free 
coinage amendment was proposed in the Senate to the 
Windom silver bullion purchase bill; and the amend- 
ment carried, a large majority of the Republicans vot- 
ing against it and a large majority of the Democrats 
voting for it. Then the bill, thus amended to be a 
regular free coinage bill, was carried by the following 
vote : 

SENATE VOTE ON FREE COINAGE, JUNE 17, 1890. 



For. Against. 

Republicans 15, or 40 % 22, or 60 % 

Democrats 27, or 90 % 3, or 10 % 

Totals 42 25 



"In a few days this Senate free coinage amendment 
was voted on in the House, with the following result : 
HOUSE VOTE ON F^REE COINAGE, JUNE 25, 1890. 



For. Against. 

Republicans 21, or 14 % 130, or 86 % 

Democrats 113, or 83 % 22, or 17 % 

Independents 1 

Totals 135 152 



54 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



"Eighty-six per cent, of the Republicans voted 
against free coinage, and 83 per cent, of the Democrats 
voted for it. And yet we are told that at this time 
the Republicans, as well as the Democrats, were for 
free coinage. It is a most ridiculous claim." 

"I'd like to know where you get those figures." 
said the tall man who, a few minutes before, had 
spoken about the party leaving him in 1896 because it 
was against free coinage. 

"They are the figures given by Senator Cockrell 
of Missouri, a free coinage man, in a speech in the 
Senate October 9, 10 and 11, 1893. You will find 
them on page 241 of the Appendix to the Congressional 
Record of that session," replied Evans. 

"So it was through all those years. Never, on a 
single occasion, when a free coinage bill was voted on 
in Congress, did the men who were elected by Repub- 
licans to go to Washington and carry out their wishes, 
fail to vote overwhelmingly against it. Especially was 
this true in the lower House, where the members are 
more closely in touch with their constituents. How 
absurd it is, then, for men to say that the Republican 
party shifted its ground in 1896 by opposing free coin- 
age, when it simply continued the opposition it had 
maintained all along. In 1896 the Republican party 
declared its opposition to free coinage more explicitly 
than ever before, because it was a more prominent issue 
than ever before. 

"I have shown you what the accredited representa- 
tives of the two parties did with reference to silver — 
and that's the best proof of where the parties stood. I'll 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



55 



now show you what the two parties said, and that's the 
second best proof of where the parties stood. 

"On June 7, 1892, the Eepublican National Con- 
vention met in Minneapolis. It said : 

'The American people, from tradition and interest, favor 
bimetallism, and the Republican party demands the use of 
both gold and silver as standard money, with such restrictions 
and under such provisions, to be determined by legislation, 
as will secure the maintenance of the parity of values of the 
two metals so that the purchasing and debt-paying power of 
the dollar, whether of silver, gold or paper, shall be at all times 
equal. The interests of the producers of the country, its farm- 
ers and its workingmen, demand that every dollar, paper or 
coin, issued by the government, shall be as good as any other. 
We commend the wise and patriotic steps already taken by our 
government to secure an international conference to adopt 
such measures as will secure a parity of value between gold 
and silver for use as money throughout the world.' 

"On June 21, 1892, the Democratic National Con- 
vention met in Chicago. It said : 

'We denounce the Republican legislation known as the 
Sherman act of 1890 as a cowardly makeshift, fraught with 
possibilities of danger in the future which should make all its 
supporters, as well as its author, anxious for its speedy repeal. 
We hold to the use of both gold and silver as the standard 
money of the country, and to the coinage of both gold and 
silver without discriminating against either metal or charge 
for mintage, but the dollar unit of coinage of both metals 
must be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value, or be ad- 
justed through international agreement or by such safeguards 
of legislation as shall insure the maintenance of the parity of 
the two metals and the equal power of every dollar at all times 
in the markets and in the payment of debts; and we demand 
that all paper currency shall be kept at par with and redeem- 
able in such coin. We insist upon this policy as especially 
necessary for the protection of the farmers and laboring 
classes, the first and most defenseless victims of unstable 
money and a fluctuating currency.' 



56 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



"The two declarations are much the same in words. 
Giving to the language used its reasonable meaning, 
both parties declared in favor of placing gold and silver 
on the same footing as to coinage, provided the pai°ity 
of the two metals was maintained. 

"But the vital difference between the two parties 
in 1892, and before, and on through the campaign of 
1896, was a difference of opinion as to the conditions 
under which this parity could be maintained. The 
Eepublicans believed that with free coinage by the 
United States alone, the parity could not be main- 
tained; and, through all those years, the reason given 
by the Eepublicans for refusing to vote for free coinage 
was the belief that the result of such legislation would 
be practical silver mono-metallism, and not practical 
bimetallism. On the other hand, the Democrats be- 
lieved that with free coinage by the United States 
alone the parity could be maintained, and that our 
gold and silver coins would be of equal purchasing 
power, dollar for dollar. 

"And so it happened that the Kepublican members 
of Congress, in July, 1892, by the big majorities that 
I have just shown you, said: 'In accordance with the 
financial plank in our platform recently adopted at 
Minneapolis, we vote against free coinage.' And a 
great majority of the Democratic members said: 'In 
accordance with the financial plank in our platform 
recently adopted at Chicago, we vote for free coinage/ 

"Thus the party declarations were interpreted by 
party votes; and no intelligent man had any right in 
1892 to say that the Kepublican party favored free 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



57 



coinage. And no man in 1896 had any right to say 
that the Kepublican party shifted from its former 
position when in its convention in 1896 it opposed 
free coinage. 

"The simple truth is, that when the Democrats in 
1896 declared explicitly for free coinage, and the Re- 
publicans explicitly against free coinage, they only 
emphasized the position that they, as parties, had occu- 
pied for years." 

Here a young man in the audience rose. He was 
the young man who, in the beginning of our story, had 
displayed such ardent Republicanism at the blacksmith 
shop. He said : "I ran across a short story the other 
day that I think illustrates pretty well the unwilling- 
ness of the Republican party to go over to free coinage. 
May I read it ?" 

"I think there would be no objection," said Evans, 
as he took a seat near the stand on the platform. 

The young man read: 

"The Horse and the Ass. 
A Horse and an Ass were once grazing by the Side of a 
wide, swift River. The Ass said, "The Grass looks better on 
the other Side of the River; let us cross over." "Agreed," said 
the Horse, "if only we can cross safely." The Ass said, "Down 
Stream a little Way there is a Bridge." They trotted to the 
Bridge, and the Ass at once went upon it and started over. 
But the Horse stopped when he came to the Bridge, looked at 
it a Moment, and called out, "Come back, Ass. The Bridge is 
rotten and weak in the Middle. If we try to cross we will be 
thrown into the Stream." But the Ass replied, "You Liar, you 
don't want to cross the River," and went on. The Bridge 
gave Way, and the Ass went headlong into the whirling Waters. 
As he disappeared beneath the Water for the last Time, his 
despairing Bray re-echoed far and wide, "Oh, that I had used 



58 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



Horse Sense." The Horse tried to find a safe Place to cross 
the River, but he could not. However, he soon came upon such 
sweet, rich Pasturage that he lost all desire to cross the River. 
But the Horse mourned the sad End of the Ass, for when the 
Ass was not rash and headstrong he was a pleasant Com- 
panion. 

Moral — This Fable teaches us whatever we learn from it." 

The young man sat down after reading this, and 
there was silence for a few moments. Two or three 
men scowled at the young man, but others seemed 
pleased with the recital. 

Then Evans resumed : "Let ns now see why it 
was that Democratic supremacy in 1893 caused a well- 
grounded fear that the country would go to a silver 
basis, with a silver dollar worth 50 or 60 cents in gold 
as the practical standard of value, and thus brought 
disaster and ruin to the country. 

"Greenbacks have been as good as gold since Jan- 
uary 1, 1879, for the reason that since that time the 
holder could present them to the government and get 
gold for them, dollar for dollar. The government set 
aside $100,000,000 as a fund, called the gold reserve, 
to insure the payment of greenbacks on demand. It 
was thought that, so long as this fund remained unim- 
paired, the confidence of the people in the ability of 
the government to redeem its promises would be so 
strong that all the $346,000,000 of greenbacks would 
float at par. And this proved correct. For many 
years, and as long as this confidence remained un- 
shaken, the greenbacks presented for redemption were 
small in amount. 

"The act of February 28, 1878, provided for the 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



59 



purchase by the government of not less than $2,000,000 
worth, and not more than $4,000,000 worth, of silver 
per month, to be coined into silver dollars. Under this 
act we coined $378,166,793. 

"By the act of July 14, 1890, Congress authorized 
the issue of vast amounts of treasury notes, to be given 
by the government in payment for silver bullion, and 
redeemable in gold or silver coin at the option of the 
Secretary of the Treasury; and it was declared, in 
effect, that all our money should be kept as good as 
gold. In accordance with this pledge, treasury notes 
presented for redemption were redeemed in gold if so 
desired by the holder. Thus both greenbacks and 
treasury notes were as good as gold, because the holders 
had confidence that the government could redeem them 
in gold on demand. 

"The obligation of the government to keep silver 
dollars as good as gold was just as great as the obliga- 
tion to keep greenbacks and treasury notes as good as 
gold. 

"But, while treasury notes and silver dollars were 
being issued in large amounts, the gold reserve was not 
increased, and it was easy to see that it was only a 
question of time when the reserve of $100,000,000 
would not be sufficient, to maintain at par the fast 
increasing volume of money dependent upon it for 
redemption." 

"Did the government redeem silver dollars with 
gold dollars ?" asked Curtis. 

"No," said Evans, "but there is no doubt it would 
have done so, as a last resort, to maintain the parity 



60 



PROSPEKITY AND POLITICS 



of the two metals ; for, in the final test, the only way 
to keep a silver dollar, worth as bullion only 50 cents 
in gold, as good as a gold dollar, is to have it exchange- 
able for a gold dollar. And John Gr. Carlisle, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury under Cleveland, stated that that 
was just what he would do before he would allow the 
country to go to a silver basis — give gold dollars for 
silver dollars. 

"He said: 

'It is the duty of the secretary of the treasury and that 
of all other public officials to execute in good faith the policy 
declared by congress, and whenever he shall be satisfied that 
the silver dollar cannot be kept equal in purchasing power with 
the gold dollar except by receiving it in exchange for the gold 
dollar, when such exchange is demanded, it will be his duty 
to adopt that course.' 

"As the amount of money depending upon the gold 
reserve to be kept as good as gold, increased, the sums 
of paper money presented for redemption increased ; 
but it was not until after the triumph of the free silver 
party at the polls in November, 1892, that the demands 
upon the gold reserve became great enough to excite 
apprehension. In the three months of December, Jan- 
uary and February following the election, $35,000,000 
of treasury notes and greenbacks were presented for 
redemption in gold — more than had been presented 
during the twenty-four months preceding. 

"This, then, was the condition of things in the 
spring of 1893 : The outstanding amount of silver 
dollars and treasury notes was rapidly increasing; the 
net gold in the United States Treasury — which was 
the only place where there was any undertaking to 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS HI 

exchange gold for other kinds of money, and thus keep 
them as good as gold — had for some time been decreas- 
ing: the bullion value of the silver dollar had been 
diminishing, as shown by the following table: 



Outstanding Average 

amount silver bullion 

Net gold in dollars and value of 

treasury treasury notes the silver 

June 30. June 30. dollar. 

1878 $103,000,000 $ 8,000,000 89 cents 

1879 119,000,000 36,000,000 86 cents. 

1880 118,000,000 64,000,000 88 cents 

1881 157,000,000 91,000,000 87 cents. 

1882 143,000,000 119,000,000 87 cents 

1883 138,000,000 147,000,000 85 cents 

1884 133,000,000 175,000,000 85 cents 

1885 120,000,000 203,000,000 82 cents 

1886 156,000,000 233,000,000 76 cents 

1887 186,000,000 266,000,000 75 cents 

1888 193,000,000 299,000,000 72 cents 

1889 186,000,000 333,000,000 72 cents 

1890 190,000,000 369,000,000 80 cents 

1891 117,000,000 455,000,000 76 cents 

1892 114,000,000 515,000,000 67 cents 

1893 95,000,000 566,000,000 60 cents 



"These figures surely justify the conviction that 
largely prevailed both at home and abroad that the 
United States had issued about as many silver dollars 
and treasury notes as it could keep at par with gold; 
that Uncle Sam had about as big a load of silver as 
he could carry. It was under these circumstances that 
the Democratic party, known to be overwhelmingly in 
favor of free coinage, came into power. 

"It was known that the President and the Secretary 
of the Treasury — out of harmony with the dominant 
element of the party — were opposed to free coinage, 



62 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



and would keep all our money as good as gold if they 
had the power; but it was feared that the Democratic 
party could not be trusted either to change existing 
laws or to enact new ones so that they might have that 
power. 

"In April, 1893, doubt arose as to whether the gov- 
ernment would continue to redeem treasury notes in 
gold; and, in that one month, $20,000,000 of paper 
money was presented for redemption in gold; and, for 
the first time in fifteen years, the gold reserve sank 
below $100,000,000. 

"Men began to hoard gold, and to draw gold from 
the Treasury to hoard. 

"Financial institutions began to totter. Commer- 
cial and industrial establishments began to fail. And 
from that time on till the Democratic party was terri- 
My defeated at the polls in November, 1896, in their 
efforts to establish free coinage, there was financial fear 
and distrust throughout the land, which added tremen- 
dously to the distress and suffering of the country dur- 
ing those four dark years of Democratic rule. And 
it was not until March 4, 1897, that the business in- 
terests of the nation had confidence that the govern 
ment was in the hands not only of an administration 
that would, but of an administration backed by a party 
that would and could keep every dollar of American 
money as good as gold, a||d preserve the financial honor 
of the nation as untarnished as the flag. 

"It is true that for a short time the influence of 
President Cleveland and the administration restrained 
and held in check the free silver majority of the Demo- 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



63 



cratic party. By a bare majority of Democratic votes, 
and a sweeping majority of Republican votes, Congress, 
in August, 1893, prohibited the further issue of treas- 
ury notes, and this afforded some relief. But confi- 
dence in the ability of the government to keep all our 
money as good as gold had been thoroughly shaken, 
and the fear that Bryan and the Democratic party 
might win in 1896, and establish free coinage, and 
throw the country on to a silver basis, effectually pre- 
vented the restoration of that confidence. 

"Foreign investors, fearing a crash, rushed Ameri- 
can securities across the water to be sold for gold, thus 
depressing the market and causing unprecedented ex- 
ports of gold. 

"Again and again enormous quantities of paper 
money were presented for redemption in gold ; again 
and again the government resorted to the issue of bonds 
to replenish the gold reserve. During the four years 
of Cleveland's administration, paper money to the 
amount of $460,000,000 was redeemed in gold — $160,- 
000,000 in excess of the amount of gold exported. 
Doubtless much of it was hoarded. 

"On the other hand, at no time since McKinley 
and the Republican party took charge of the govern- 
ment has there been fear of a depreciated currency. 

"There has been no issuing of bonds to maintain 
the gold reserve, as was the case in 1894, in 1S95, and 
in 1896. 

"The investors of the world are glad to put their 
money into American securities. 

"It is now a matter of law, and not merely the do- 



64 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



clared policy of the government, that all our money 
shall be kept as good as gold. 

"The gold reserve has been increased by the Re- 
publicans to $150,000,000, with ample provisions for 
maintaining it. 

"Instead of borrowing money from Europe, we are 
lending money to Europe, and the credit of this nation 
is higher than that of any other nation on the globe. 

"From 1790 to March 1, 1897, the balance of trade 
was in our favor $383,028,497. Erom March 1, 1897, 
to March 1, 1900, the balance of trade was in our favor 
$1,183,537,094. 

"There is no hoarding of gold, for everybody knows 
that all our money will be kept as good as gold as long 
as Republican principles are in practical operation — 
and this largely accounts for the splendid prosperity 
of the country during this administration. 

"Every prophecy of disaster in case of McKinley's 
election, made by the Democrats in the campaign of 
1896, has proven false. 

"They said that wages would go lower and lower. 
Wages have risen higher and higher. 

"They said that the amount of money in circula- 
tion would become less and less. On July 1, 1896, the 
amount of money in circulation was $1,509,725,200. 
Since that time the amount of money in circulation has 
increased more than $550,000,000. 

"In his speech in Madison Square Garden, Mr. 
Bryan said: 'So long as the scramble for gold con- 
tinues, prices must fall, and again, falling prices is but 
another definition of hard times.' Since he made that 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



65 



speech Russia and Japan have adopted the gold stan- 
dard, and 'the scramble for gold continues' ; but prices 
of products have gradually risen, and are now higher 
than they have been since Harrison's administration." 

Evans paused a while, and then said slowly : "We 
have learned by experience that Democratic theories 
put into practice destroy the industries of the nation, 
and that Republican theories put into practice build 
them up. We have learned that the Republican party 
is the party of prosperity, and that the Democratic 
party is the party of adversity — - and that's the chief 
reason why I'm a Republican. 

"The Democratic party still stands for free trade 
and free silver. And besides, the enemies of our coun- 
try's flag in the Philippines are looking to the Demo- 
cratic party for aid and comfort, just as the enemies 
of our country's flag looked to the Democratic party for 
aid and comfort in 1864. And just as the Democrats 
denounced Lincoln in 1864, they are denouncing Mc- 
Kinley today. It seems to me that the duty of- every 
intelligent, patriotic man is clear — and that is, to vote 
for McKinley and Roosevelt. I thank you all for 
your kindness in listening to me. The meeting is 
dismissed." 

Snodgrass, Henderson, Billson and Curtis walked 
away from the meeting together. 

"Snodgrass," said Henderson, "what do you think 
of it ?" 

"Think of it!" replied Snodgrass. "Nobody can 
do no good talkin' to me that backs right down from 
the contractin' of the currency and the burnin' of the 

5-P&P 



68 



PROSPERITY AND POLITICS 



people's money. I don't suppose he converted a sin- 
gle man, do you ?" 

"!N~aw," said Henderson. 

"Well, I know of one man that's going to vote the 
Republican ticket if he lives to get to the polls/' re- 
marked Billson. 

"I know of another who's going to do some mighty 
tall thinking on the subject," said Curtis. 



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